Suction driven prime mover



Sept. 12, 1933.

E. S. CORNELL, JR

SUCTION DRIVEN PRIME MOVER Filed Aug. 4, 1931 INVENTOR 7/1 Ed rorneHJr.

Patented Sept. 12 I 1933 [UNITED STATES PA E T QFFICE 1,926,527 SUCTION DRIVEN mum: MOVER Edward S. Cornell, Jr.,

Watertown, Conn., as-

signor to American Radiator Company, New York, 'N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application August 4, 1931. Serial No. 555,030

2 Claims.

inspirate the air through the casing in paths most effectively impinging upon and actuatin the rotor at maximum efficiency.

The invention is also directed to a combined rotor and easing construction of ready production of the individual parts and ready assembly of the parts, and resulting in a structure which, ,is rigid in character and capable of maintaining maximum efficiency in normal use.

The invention lends itself to the production I of the rotor and easing parts of molded composition, such as bakelite or other suitable, moldable composition, as well as of metal.

Further features and objects of the invention will be more fully understood from the following detail description an'd the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a vertical central sectional elevation of a. preferred form of the invention; this figure also shows a fan employed as a driven element,

. serving merely as one illustration of application 0 of the invention, and

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional elevation of another preferred form of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a vertical central sectional elevation of. Fig. 3:

Fig. 5 is a detail elevation of Fig. 4 as viewed from the left-hand side thereof; and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional elevation on line- 66 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively side and front elevations of a further preferred embodiment of figuration; the respective blades, six being shown whole bearing support of the shaft 12.

in Fig. 2, are rotatively mounted at their inner ends in any suitable manner, as by means of a hub 13, and ,ashaft 12, which may be keyed, splined or tight-fitted within the central opening of the hub. 13.

The casing 11 may be formed of any suitable constituent parts, of suitable material, such as cast metal, shaped metal, or of suitable nonmetallic moldedmaterial, such as bakelite and other moldable plastic material. Conveniently the casing may comprise a cylindrical barrel or cylindrical cup main body portion and an end plate 11a, which is clamped to the body portion as by securing screws 14 connecting the juxta-. posed flanges of the body portion and the end plate 11a.

One bearing for the shaft 12 may be formedby centrally, cylindrically cupping the end plate 11a, as indicated at 11b, to receive a thrust bearing ball 15, for thrust bearing engagement with the concave end 1211 of the shaft 12, the opposite and retaining bearing 16 being formed in'the wall of the main body portion 11, and preferably of sufficiently axial length to afford substantially the Desirably, a sleeve 17 of anti-friction material is interposed between the shaft 12 and the bearing 16, to provide reduced friction at the bearing surface, and to substantially preclude leakage of air between the shaft 12 and the bearing.

Suitable inflow and. discharge openings are provided in the casing in suction-driven relation with the blades. Preferably, the inlet 18 is disposed at one .side of the cylindrical face of the main body portion of the casing 11, the bore of the inlet 18 being disposed substantially centrally of the path of rotation of the rotor blades 10 and extending axially substantially at right angles to the impinged face of each rotor blade when it attains the stage of intermediate position betweenthe inlet 18 and the discharge 19.

The discharge 19, see Figs. 1 and 2, is preferably located to have its bore disposed centrally relative to the path of rotation of each rotor blade 10, when at the stage of impingement of air through the inlet 18, and therefore in substantial alignment with the bore of the inlet 18. The bore of the discharge 19 is also preferably substantially at right angles to the plane of the face of each blade when it assumes its impinging position substantially centrally between the inlet 18 and'the discharge 19. The discharge 19 is usually provided with threading or like coupling, for removable and sealing attachment of a suitable coupling 20 of. a pipe 21, tubing or the like, for connection with the inlet manifold of an explosive engine, such as an automobile or of any suitable suction-effecting device or instrumentality.

The embodiment of my prime moveras illustrated in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6, conforms generally to the embodiment illustrated .in Figs. 1 and 2, and like parts are designated. by like reference characters. However, in the embodiment of Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6, the rotor blades 22 are preferably dished or of general cup-shaped facial formation. One such dished or cup-shaped facial formation is illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 6, namely,

of dual, radially parallel formation for each blade, one dish or'cup-shaped depression being designated 23 and the other 24, and connected intermediately by a rib 25.

The rotor construction illustrated in Figs. 3 to 6, inclusive, lends itself to theuse of bakelite and like moldable composition for the material of the rotor, and the rotor blades may bemolded integrally with the central hub 26, and molded or otherwise rigidly'secured to the shaft 12. The shaft.12 may be provided with ribs 12b to insure rigid securement with the'hub 26.

In the modification shown in Figs. 3 to 6, inclusive, the casing is also illustrated as formed of molded material, such as bakelite or the like, the walls of the casing 11 being suitably thickened as illustrated, and the end cap 11a provided with openings 110 for receiving securing screws 27,,

seated in threadedopenings 28 in the cylindrical wall of the casing 11.

A further modification of my rotor is illustrated in Figs; '7 and 8, and comprises rotor blades 30' having cupped formations 31, which may be dual in arrangement and each of oval contour. The larger axis of each oval oup31 maybe materially less than theradial length of each rotor' blade 30. The rotor blades 30 are secured to a hub 13 in any suitable manner, and the hub 13 is secured to the shaft 12 in any suitable manner.

I The rotor blades, in the several modifications of facial configurations, have their peripheral edges spaced at all times from and substantially uniformly for all rotative positions relative to the substantially cylindrical inner face of the casing, and have an .outer contour corresponding to the radial cross-sectional contour of the casing, but providing a definite and uniform clearance between the outer contour edge and the opposite of the cylindrical interior of the casing, and that the rotor blades asthey individually respectively rotate ,into andthrough the active zone 'of propulsive forces, engendered by the suction applied atthe discharge opening of the casing, theair entering the inlet impinges upon its effective, i.e.,

its trailing face, the substantially central location of the inlet. and the axial-alignment of its bore combining to effect a maximum torque upon the rotor.

By cupping the effective faces of the rotor blades, the maximum torque is attained from stage to stage of variation of suction pressure. It is my belief, judging from the performance of my invention. the cupping of the blades, concavely with respect to the trailing face and convexing with respect to the leading face, disturbing eddy currents are reduced to a minimum.

From the above, it is also apparent thatthe walls of my rotor casing are imperforate, excepting of course the air inlet communicating exteriorly with the atmosphere and interiorly with the interior of the rotor casing and the air discharge communicating interiorly with the interior of the rotor casing and exteriorly with the inlet manifold of the explosive engine or other suction-effecting device or instrumentality.

The arcuate distance of the discharge opening from the inlet opening is selected for maximum performance. In general, the arcuate spacing corresponds to the arcuate spacing betwen the radial blades- As appears from the several illustrated embodiments of the invention, the arcuate spacing between the discharge and inlet openings, stated in general terms, is greater than a unit blade spacing and less than two blade spacings, that is to say, for a rotor having six blades, the arcuate spacing between the inlet and discharge openings is greater than 60 and less than 120. And accordingly for a rotor having more than six blades, the arcuate spacing between the inlet and discharge openings is less than sixty degrees and therefore less than one hundred and twenty degrees.

I am aware that heretofore proposed turbines and othermotors actuated by water under a pressure head, compressed steam and like fluid, comprise a rotor element provided with buckets, blades and the like, disposed at the periphery of the rotor. However, in the eflicient types of compressed steam turbines, a plurality of inlets for admission of the steam are provided, usually at uniformly spaced locations peripherally-of the rotor, and whereas the buckets or blades are curved, the effective area of each bucket does not lie in a plane which is substantially normal to the plane of the rotor. Furthermore, in such heretofore proposed turbines and the like, the discharge for the spent fluid has a cross-sectional area greatly exceeding the area of the inlet in the instance of a single inlet, and the total area of the inlets in the instance of a'plurality of inlets. In turbines and other motors actuated by ,water, it is usual to discharge the water under gravity, for the essential purpose of insuring the removal of water within the rotor casing, upon cessation of operation, to avoid the increased inertia of the with the intake manifold of a regulation automo bile tractive motor, pursuant to my invention, the

discharge, as'appears. from the-drawing, has a cross-sectional area which is substantially equiyalent to thatof the'intake, and the axis of the intake is disposed substantially normal to the rotor blades, the rotor blades being disposed substantially normally to the plane of the rotor body, the discharge communicating with the interior of the rotor casing adjacent the periphery of the inner contour of the casing, through which-region the rotor blades traverse.

' Whereas I havedescribed my invention by reference to specific forms thereof, it will be understood that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim: 1. A prime mover comprising a casing having an inner substantially cylindrical contour, a rotor element within said casing, said rotor element comprising a plurality of radiallyextending substantially uniformly circumferentially distributed blades, said blades having their peripheral edges spaced at all times from and substantially uniformly for all rotated positions relative to the substantially cylindrical inner face of the casing, said casing being provided with an inlet opening and also with a discharge opening, the cross-sectional area of the discharge opening being substantially equal to that of the inlet opening, said discharge opening communicating adjacent the periphery of the inner substantially cylindrical contour of said casing, said discharge opening being spaced from said inlet opening less than one hundred and twenty angular degrees and greater than a unit bladespacing, said casing being imperforate excepting solely for said inlet opening and said discharge opening. each of said blades -a portion of its leading face convex.

having a portion of its trailing face concave and periphery of said casing at approximately right angles to the diameter of said casing, a rotor provided with a plurality of air-actuated elements, said blades having their peripheral edges spaced at all times from and substantially uniformly for all rotated positions relative to the substantially cylindrical inner face of the casing and an outlet nozzle for said casing spaced apart from the inlet nozzle at an angle less than one hundred and twenty angular degrees and greater than a unit blade spacing and communicating with the interior of the casing adjacent the perimeter of the casing, said outlet nozzle having a cross-sectional area substantially equal to that of said inlet nozzle. I

* EDWARD S. CORNELL, JR. 

